Why do I still see pop-ups even though Pop-Up Blocker is enabled?

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Spyware and adware authors are very persistent, making it is almost impossible to block all pop-ups all the time. Blocking pop-ups is an ongoing process, with pop-up authors constantly looking for ways to get around current pop-up blockers, and pop-up blockers finding those new ways and blocking them. If Pop-up Blocker is enabled, you have followed all the steps below, and you're still seeing unwanted pop-ups, web developers may have discovered a new way to get around the current Pop-Up Blocker.

There are five known types of pop-ups that you might still see even with Pop-Up Blocker enabled:

Pop-up ads from adware

This is the most common reason you are still seeing pop-ups, especially ones for adult sites. These might look like this:

If you're still seeing pop-ups that look like this, especially ones promoting explicit web sites, most likely some web site or program has installed adware on your system without your knowledge. You can stop these pop-ups by removing these programs from your system. You can learn more about spyware and adware by searching on Yahoo Search.

Most adware and spyware is installed on your computer without your knowledge due to operating a computer on the Internet without any protection from people trying to take over your computer. For more information about protecting your computer online, please visit the Yahoo Security Center. With proper precautions you can greatly reduce the likelihood of this happening again.

One type of pop-up we cannot block is a user-requested pop-up. If you click a link and that link is supposed to open a new window, Pop-Up Blocker has no way of knowing the type of window about to be displayed but has to assume that if you clicked the link, you wanted the pop-up. A common example of this would be a new mail compose window that might appear after clicking on a link in your web-based email. Pop-Up Blocker cannot block these types of pop-ups without breaking many popular web sites.

Yahoo Feature Tips

If you're seeing a purple and grey panel sliding down from the top of your Internet Explorer window, that's not a pop-up. It's a Feature Tip provided by the Yahoo Toolbar. Please see the Toolbar Help pages for more information on Yahoo Toolbar Feature Tips, including what they are and how to disable them.